


Last Shot

by LittleSweetCheeks



Series: Angstober [7]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alcohol Abuse, Angst, Gen, Sadness, Support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-16
Packaged: 2020-12-17 14:54:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21056246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: This had to be what rock bottom felt like.





	Last Shot

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for the delay, a school bus pulled out in front of my vehicle last week and totally upended my life (and wrote off said vehicle). I have a stack of stories I'd written ahead and will get them caught up.

He poured more of the amber liquid into the tumbler, wincing at the way the glass bottle stuttered along the rim of the glass as his hand trembled. The shaking would stop, it always did, as soon as he had a bit more of the liquor in him.

Setting the bottle down, he didn’t bother replacing the cap, it would just delay the refill that would be following. He lifted the glass to his lips, sloshing some down his shirt as he gulped at the drink like a man dying of thirst.

It was hard, hiding this habit from the best profilers in the world, but he’d learned long months ago that so long as he appeared to be his old self, no one looked any further. No one asked about the coffee he made himself in his own office, topped off with a chaser of brandy.

He set the glass down again, finding the bottle to fill it, going through the whole process this time with a steadier hand. The third glass he brought back to his desk as he sat down. It was only then that he realized, while a dulled sort of horror, that he was being watched intently from his darkened doorway. He would swear he checked to be sure the floor was empty, but his thoughts were slowing nicely already. “’Lex.” He sat back in the chair to avoid the risk of swaying if he sat up straight.

She didn’t give any sort of response before shutting and locking the door and then closing the blinds. “You know…” She started, taking her time to walk the room as if it was the first time she was seeing it. “When Morgan came to me, worried, I didn’t look too much beyond his normal concerns. I know he’s always been there, worrying about you.” Finally, she took a seat, seemingly ignoring the full glass on the otherwise empty desk between them. She shook her hair out of her face. “Then JJ pulled me aside a couple cases ago and asked if I could keep an extra eye on you. She said that once upon a time the two of you had been close, but now she wasn’t sure how well you’d take her talking to you.” She sighed, radiating resignation over what had to be done. “Morgan thought you were too far split in your duties and just needed to admit you needed help, JJ was worried you were becoming depressed, and then there’s Reid, who maybe got closer than he realized. Reid said he knew the team felt they had failed him after what happened years ago, a feeling he didn’t entirely agree with, but he was worried you were suffering all the same.” Alex studied her friend for a moment. “But then today happened.” She didn’t go on.

Finally, Aaron allowed himself to take the bait. “What happened today?”

“Today.” She drew it out a bit. “Garcia came in here and presented you with her expense reports and projected costs for the next quarter. The two of you were in here alone for some time hashing things out and then she forgot her pen after, so she came back. And then she came to me. You see, before you came along and brought her here, Garcia has a much different type of friends.”

“I know.”

“Well, she’s pretty good at spotting a drunk from a hundred paces, but she wasn’t that far away. She gave me a detailed list of what she observed and then how when she came back for her pen, you were adding liquor to your afternoon coffee.”

_He’d been caught_. The words circled around his head.

Alex took the moment presented by the sudden shell-shocked look on his face to reach for the glass, but despite the alcohol-dulled reflexes, one of Aaron’s hands grabbed hers, stopping her from pulling it away.

“Please.”

“Aaron.”

“Before I lose everything… Please… Just another shot?”

“How many times have you fired a gun with alcohol in your system?”

“I’ve never been drunk-”

“That’s not what I asked, and you well know it.” She cut off. “I’m here right now not because of Garcia, not entirely anyway. You see, she came to me first because she was not sure if she could trust her judgement of you, I was supposed to be a filter before she went to Rossi. She didn’t know I’d talked to the others.” She drew a breath. “And then she reached out to Emily.”

His breath caught at that.

“And Emily called me.”

He could feel the room getting warm, it was going from bad to worse. “What’d she say?” He pushed out thinly.

“I think you know.” She released the glass and, after a minute, he released her hand. “Aaron.” She studied his face, hoping against hope to see some clue as to why this man with the reputation he had was falling so far down. “There’s no one else here, it’s just you and me. Please. Tell me what’s wrong.” She moved her hands both to take his across the desk. “Aaron.”

He considered lying but dashed the idea as quickly as it came. Alex was unlikely to call him out for it, but she would still know and the sadness in her eyes would linger each time she looked at him. “I-” He coughed slightly, clearing his throat. “There’s something I never told anyone…”


End file.
